Early day motion tabled by primary sponsor Lynne Jones (Labour), on Wednesday, 25 February 2004, in the House of Commons. It is signed by 29 members in total.

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KATHARINE GUN AND REFORM OF THE OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT

That this House applauds the courage and patriotism of GCHQ translator Katharine Gun who made public information about a memo from the US Government National Security Agency requesting UK assistance with a covert surveillance campaign of the United Nations Security Council members such as Mexico and Chile prior to voting on a resolution which would have endorsed the proposed invasion of Iraq in March 2003; welcomes the decision to drop the charges against her for breaching the Official Secrets Act; considers that the actions of Ms Gun qualify her as a whistleblower - an employee who, on the basis of principle, exposes a malpractice or a miscarriage of justice that deserves public attention; calls on the Government to reform the Official Secrets Act so that whistleblowers are able to have a public interest defence so that if a jury can be persuaded that a breach of the Official Secrets Act is in the public interest this should be an absolute defence; and calls on the Government to make a statement on the information made public by Ms Gun.

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Secondary information

Type

Early day motion

Reference

691 

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Disclosure of information Intelligence services Iraq Official secrets Reform Iraq conflict Gun, Katharine

Link

View this Early day motion on www.parliament.uk